This novel centers on a location known as Essex. This place is nestled inside a valley in western North Carolina. Effectively separated from the present times, Essex was originally the location of a mining camp. As time continued, issues begin to arise and people thought the place to be haunted. Eventually the area was abandoned and new people took up residence in the area. The eerie energy comes from a malevolent spirit known as a Wendigo. This spirit engulfs people with madness or death. Inhabitants of Essex were lost to the madness. They had dirty tangled hair, Members filled their teeth to points and wore all black clothing garments; some of them were made of skin. Residents became hunters of humans and used all portions of the body. They were a basic village of cannibals.

Jacob Mendelsohn was born in Toronto, Canada into a religious organization that believed in the unity of Christ and Satan, though he is currently a follower of neither. He was raised in Chicago, Illinois where he weathered the harshness of winter cold and the bitterness of summer baseball. Upon reaching an age when he believed himself to be mature, he attended film school at New York University, which prepared him for a life of answering phones and typing letters. He currently lives in Brooklyn, New York, but is not overly-consumed by this fact. Once in awhile a work of fiction comes along, and you say, “I wish I had written that.” All My Goodbyes is one of those books.

Catherine Cookson is a literary giant – one of the most widely read authors in the UK, with over 100 million of her books being sold throughout history. While her books are some of the most exciting, emotional and gripping to have ever been written, her own life is just as interesting – a tale of poverty, hardship, distress and incredible success. So, the below article won’t be about her literary creations – famous characters such as Tilly Trotter and Kate Hannigan – but instead about her. From her deprived childhood in South Shields through to her local legacy, surely Cookson herself is the most interesting part of her story?﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿C﻿﻿hildhood﻿﻿﻿Catherine Ann McCullen was born in Tyne Dock, South Shields, in 1906. Immediately she was born into a life of poverty. She was brought up by her grandparents and lived with them alongside her sister – or who shethought was her sister. This “sister” was actually her mother, who was an alcoholic and not able to look after her child. She never knew her father, who was a gambler and bigamist.[1] As can be seen, her upbringing was hardly ideal, even for the standards of over 100 years ago.